


Christmas Eve Decisions

by Doranwen



Category: Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
Genre: Case Fic, Christmas, Developing Relationship, Español | Spanish, F/M, Happy Ending, Hispanic Character, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27990396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doranwen/pseuds/Doranwen
Summary: Jack and Sue's day at the office alone is complicated by a kidnapping case.  Meanwhile, Jack must decide if he's willing to risk his friendship with Sue in the hopes of something better.
Relationships: Jack Hudson/Sue Thomas
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Christmas Eve Decisions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lullabymoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lullabymoon/gifts).



> Several of the characters in this fic occasionally say phrases or sentences in Spanish. In most cases what they say should be clear from context, but in case the reader needs the translation, it is provided in the end notes.
> 
> Much thanks to one of my friends, who listened to me ramble about the show as I re-watched it, and who provided a listening ear when I needed to talk out bits that proved tricky to write.

"I feel bad that I'm leaving you," Lucy said with an apologetic look to Sue. She zipped her suitcase closed and straightened up. "When my mom invited me and my grandma to visit her for Christmas, I thought you were going home…"

"It's fine, Lucy," Sue reassured. "D asked if I could work the day before Christmas and I told him I could. He should be able to spend time with his wife and children, and I don't have a husband or kids who need me."

"Only because you won't tell Jack how you feel," Lucy teased.

Sue gave Lucy a pointed look. "Jack and I are just friends."

"Come on," Lucy whined in frustration, "you've been saying that for at _least_ a year—"

"—Because it's true—" Sue interrupted.

"—And we can all see there's more there besides just friendship. Besides, it's Christmas. Next to Valentine's, it's the most romantic time of the year. And it'll be just you two the entire day…" she suggested, grin a mile wide.

Sue shook her head at Lucy. "Don't even think about it, Luce. And don't you dare say anything to Jack, either."

"My lips are sealed," Lucy said, miming turning a lock.

"They better be," Sue said, pulling her coat on and grabbing Levi's leash. "You're all set?"

"Yeah, rental car is already arranged for this morning. Have fun with Jack," Lucy told Sue just before Sue rolled her eyes and turned away.

* * *

"Thanks for taking me to the airport, mate," Bobby said as he climbed into the passenger seat of Jack's car.

Jack waved a hand dismissively. "Couldn't let you pay for a taxi when your house isn't that far out of the way, and it's not like I have to be at work on time. We have no active cases, the office will be practically empty… It's just a day to finish up reports." He turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life, but his hand paused on the gearshift at the next words from Bobby's mouth.

"Just you and Miss Thomas for the whole day," Bobby said airily.

Jack turned to face Bobby and narrowed his eyes. "Working on reports for Randy. And that's all we'll be doing." He pulled away from the curb, shaking his head. "Just because Darcy invited you to visit, suddenly you've felt the urge to comment on my relationship—or lack thereof—with Sue."

Bobby's voice turned serious. "I'm where you very well could have been, if Sue hadn't decided to stay. If I were you, I'd do something about it."

Jack said nothing in reply. He'd had that conversation with himself enough times, but it always ended in indecision. Was it worth the risk of Sue rejecting him and thus ruining their friendship? Or even if it did go well, then having to figure out who would have to transfer out, due to the Bureau policy? When she was going to leave, he figured it was his one shot, because he was losing her anyway, but he hadn't even managed to be fully honest with her the first go 'round. At least Myles had come along to stop him from revealing his feelings unnecessarily. He was back to square one, and he liked what he had too much to risk losing it all in a gamble for more. _You're the gambler, not me_ , he told Bobby silently. No, "doing something about it" was not in his game plan for the day.

* * *

Motion in her peripheral vision alerted Sue to Jack's arrival at the office an hour past the usual starting time. "Merry Christmas, Jack," Sue called from her desk. "I see you finally decided to get to work," she told him with a little grin in anticipation of his typical reaction whenever she got a dig in at him.

Jack's face did not disappoint as the usual look of mild exasperation crossed it before clearing. "I took Bobby to the airport, and the traffic was terrible."

Sue nodded. "Everyone's trying to get out of town to have Christmas with family."

There was enough of a pause in the conversation that Sue dropped her head down to study the report she was working on again, but she caught the motion of Jack's hands out of the corner of her eyes. "What about you?" he signed.

Sue shook her head. "It's a long drive to Ohio, and there's a bad storm coming down across the lakes."

"No plane flights?"

"Levi doesn't handle planes all that well. I don't like to do it to him." She pursed her lips and looked over at the canine lying beside her desk. Levi whined a little. "I know, buddy, planes are terrible, aren't they?" She turned back to Jack. "Are you flying out tonight?"

He shook his head. "Flights were all sold out by the time I knew for sure I would be working today."

"Well, if you don't have anywhere else to go, you can join Charlie and me. He didn't have anywhere to go either, and Troy's spending the day with his brother and family."

Jack looked at Sue with that smile that always made her feel all warm inside. _Wait, did I just invite him to spend Christmas with me?_ she asked herself.

"I might take you up on that," he said. "It sounds a lot better than my current plan."

 _Lucy is going to freak out if she hears about this_ , Sue thought, and decided she had better start thinking up creative ways to avoid mentioning it. Suddenly it was a lot harder to concentrate on the dry report she was preparing.

* * *

Jack yawned for what seemed like the tenth time that hour. Clearly he'd stayed up too late the night before. That or the report he was working on was a secret soporific weapon. (Or possibly both.) The sound of the office telephone shook him loose from the tendrils of sleep that threatened once again, and he answered it, "This is Agent Hudson." The rest of his sleepiness fled quickly when he heard the next words. "We're on it." He hung up the phone and turned to Sue, waving a hand to catch her attention.

She clearly had been struggling as much as he had, one hand covering a yawn as she looked up at him. "What is it?"

"We've got a case. Child kidnapping, sounds like custody dispute gone bad."

"But we're the only ones here…" Sue looked a little concerned.

"Most of the other teams are in the same position, and we're a little better off than you might think. Tara's close enough to come in, and D will be here as soon as I call him."

Sue's face matched how he felt. "I hate that we have to take him from his family the day before Christmas."

Jack nodded in understanding. "Yeah, but he'd want to be here for this one. Some mother is going to have a worse Christmas unless we're able to find her child. I'll fill you in once I've called them; you might as well finish the reports as far as you can since I don't think we'll get any chance after this."

Twenty minutes later, D walked in the door. "You just couldn't handle it all on your own, huh, Jack?" he asked with a wink.

"Sorry we had to pull you in, D," Jack apologized.

"Ah, Donna understands. I told her we were working a kidnapping case. That gets me out of all apologies and amends," D said with a smile, but quickly became all business. "What've we got so far?"

"Mom's Teresa Sanchez, daughter's Esmeralda, 5, goes by Esme." Jack paused with a glance towards Tara's empty chair. "Tara's on her way; said she'll get us some thorough pictures printed out but for now we'll have to pull them up on the databases ourselves."

D and Sue nodded.

Jack continued, "Dad is Juan Sanchez, divorced but they share custody. Esme's with mom most of the time but spends every other weekend with her dad. This weekend was one of those, but since tomorrow's Christmas, she went a couple days early and should have been dropped back off last night. When she didn't come home, mom called the dad but got no answer. She reported it as a kidnapping this morning when she got an email from him saying Esme would be better off away from her."

"Poor Esm—" Sue halted with a confused look on her face.

Jack took a guess at the issue. "Esme," Jack said, fingerspelling the name. "The last sound is like 'day'." He fingerspelled that word as well.

Sue's face cleared and she smiled at Jack. "Poor Esme," she repeated, and Jack nodded in confirmation of the correct pronunciation.

"Hopefully not too much longer," came Tara's voice as she walked in. "Give me a minute and I'll dig up some information."

"Meanwhile, Teresa Sanchez and her fiancé Victor Morales are in one of the interview rooms downstairs," Jack said.

"Take Sue and ask some more questions, see what you can learn," D said. "I'll see what Tara finds."

* * *

"When did you know for sure that this was a kidnapping and that Esme's father wasn't just a little late dropping her off?" Sue asked Teresa and Victor.

"He's been late before, but he usually calls to explain," Teresa answered. "I thought maybe the phones weren't working, or he'd forgotten, and then this morning he emailed and said Esme would be better off without me." She blinked her eyes rapidly, and Victor squeezed her hand.

"It's not your fault, _mi corazón_. You know how he felt about Esme calling me _Papi_." He looked up at Jack and Sue. "I asked Teresa to marry me last weekend, you see. We told Esme she could be the flower girl in the wedding. She was so excited. And even though I cannot adopt her, she wanted to be called Esme Morales instead of Esme Sanchez. Juan was… not happy about that."

"He was furious," Teresa said. "Told Esme she was a Sanchez and always would be. But I didn't think he'd try to take her and keep her from me." She lost her battle with tears at that point.

Sue reached out and laid one hand on Teresa's. "We'll do our very best to find Esme as soon as possible, I promise you," she said.

Jack rose, prompting the others to stand as well. He shook Victor's hand. "We've got some of our best people on this. We'll call you as soon as we have something."

"Thank you so much," said Victor. "We'll be praying for her safe return."

* * *

"There are a lot of men named Juan Sanchez," Tara declared. "Fortunately, we know which one is Esme's father." She tapped at her keyboard, and a picture of the man in question appeared on the large screen. "Meet Juan Sanchez, seafood packer at a plant by Chesapeake Bay, where he did not show up for work today."

"No surprise there," Jack commented.

Tara nodded in acknowledgment. "They faxed his employment records, along with a note that he's a hard worker but has an explosive temper."

"That would match Teresa's comment about how he reacted to Esme calling Victor her father," said Sue. "He sounds a bit… possessive."

"I had the same feeling," Tara said, "so I did a search. Turns out just before the divorce, Teresa ended up being treated for a broken arm. She claimed that she fell, which we all know can be a cover for domestic violence. It's not proof, but the timing was suspicious."

Sue made a face. "At least she got out of the marriage before it happened over and over."

"I agree." Tara went on, "The local police went to his apartment; not only is no one there, it looks like they packed pretty thoroughly. There wasn't much left, and nothing he might need to come back for."

"So we can safely assume he has abandoned his old life and is taking Esme somewhere else to live," D said. "Since there's no obvious danger to Esme's safety or life, we can't issue an Amber Alert, and he's had a headstart on us as far as where he might go."

Tara held up a finger. "Now _there_ , we might have some possibilities. Juan has a brother in Atlanta, Georgia, a sister in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a cousin just outside Raleigh - North Carolina as well. I'm reaching out to the field offices nearby to see if they can talk with each of them, get any ideas where he might go or if he's contacted them."

"In the meantime, we can look into his background. I've got something for each of us to go through," D said, handing each person a folder of information Tara had compiled.

Jack sank into his chair and began to flip through his. Hopefully somewhere in those pages was the key to finding a little girl…

* * *

Sue flipped through the pages in her folder again. So far she wasn't finding anything useful, but maybe if she read through once more…

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw D pick up the phone, listening to someone. "Thank you, we're on it," he said finally before hanging up the phone and turning to face them. "Guess cousins aren't as loyal as they used to be. Juan's cousin told the agents who talked with him that Juan was there that morning with Esme. They left a few hours ago, but he thinks they're still in the area. He's got a list of old friends he thinks Juan might visit that the field office will be sending to you shortly."

"I'll be right on it," said Tara.

"As for you two…" D said, looking at Jack and Sue. A slow smile spread over his face.

Sue glanced over at Jack, wondering if he had any idea what D was up to. A nearly imperceptible shake of his head answered that.

"…You're about to go on a road trip," D finished. "It's a four-hour drive and change, you can grab a bite on the way."

Sue looked at Jack again. "You want to drive or should I?" he asked, moving to grab his coat.

"You can drive; I may have grown up in Ohio but I still don't like driving in winter weather."

"Fortunately, I don't think there are any storms along our route," he said, gathering up a few folders. "I'll meet you at the car."

* * *

The first hour of the trip Jack spent on the phone much of the time, as Tara called with all the information she was able to dig up. Jack mouthed it all to Sue, who wrote down everything they might need. He was hopeful by the end of it that they would have Esme safely back to her mother by the end of the night; he didn't think Juan would be able to evade them very long with a little girl in tow, and it was unlikely that Juan intended any harm to come to Esme.

In the second hour, they'd stopped to get lunch for the two of them—with a side treat for Levi. "He doesn't need to eat lunch when I do," Sue had said, "but he likes to just the same, and I don't know when he'll get his supper tonight."

Now the last of the burgers and fries had been polished off, and Jack drank the final drops of his soda, setting the cup in the cup holder to dispose of later. "Is this the first year you haven't been with your family at Christmas?" he asked Sue.

"Yeah, I guess it is." She seemed a little surprised at the thought. "My first year here, my parents came to visit, and the last two years I've been able to go home. Well," she amended, "last year we all went to my brother's place in Pennsylvania. He and his wife live near Pittsburgh." There was a comfortable silence for a moment. "What about you? I mean, I'm sure this isn't your first, but does it happen often?"

Jack shrugged. "Now and then. I try to go home, because my parents aren't in the best of health, but sometimes cases come up. This year, someone had to stay and work on the reports. Bobby often stays with me, but he wanted to see Darcy. Myles spent Christmas with his sister, D has his family… Figured it might as well be me this time." He glanced over at her and smiled. "Besides, it's not like the company was terrible."

Sue's answering smile turned into a yawn. "Sorry, I was up late chatting with Lucy last night."

"Why don't you take a nap, then?" Jack suggested. "It'll be several more hours before we get there, and I'm wide awake so you don't have to worry about keeping me alert." He winked at her, which elicited a warm smile in response.

"I think I will take you up on that," she said, adjusting the back of her seat to lay down a bit.

A sudden impulse struck Jack, and he forced himself to act before he thought too much and backed off. He glanced down quickly to confirm that Sue's hand was resting along the middle section of the car, then reached his own hand down to wrap around hers and squeeze once. He held his breath, forcing himself to watch the road and not turn towards Sue, as he left his hand on hers loosely enough that it would be easy for her to pull out of it. When she didn't pull away, he attempted to breathe normally while his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. _It's like I'm back in high school again_ , he thought to himself. The warmth of Sue's hand in his was grounding as he continued to drive with his left hand only. After a few minutes, he dared to take a quick look over at Sue, to find her fast asleep, and he wished he didn't have to watch the road so he could watch the beauty of her face instead.

* * *

Sue drifted off to sleep with Jack's hand around hers, and woke up to him shaking her shoulder gently. She blinked. "Are we there already?"

Jack nodded. "We're meeting a couple of the field agents before we head to the house we think Mr. Sanchez is at."

She got out of the car and let Levi out of the back so he could do his doggy business, while Jack went over to talk to two people that she assumed must be the agents in question. When Levi was finished, she joined him.

Jack turned to her with a smile. "Sue, let me introduce you to Agents Jeffrey Ross and Tricia Moran. Agents, this is Miss Thomas, our Special Investigative Assistant. Her canine companion is Levi."

"It's nice to meet you," Sue told them as they shook hands.

"You too," Agent Moran said. "Are we ready?"

"I think so," Jack said. "Our tech genius gave us the three most likely locations in order of probability; I'd like to hit them quickly and see if we can't find both the girl and her father in time for supper."

"I like that plan," Agent Ross said. "We'll meet you at the first one."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Sue was standing by the car with strict orders not to approach until the all-clear was given.

"I don't think there's a real risk," Jack said, "but I'd rather be safe than sorry." He was relieved that Sue didn't seem to want to fight it.

"Levi will listen for you," she said.

Agent Ross went around the back of the apartment's fire escape in case, and Agent Moran accompanied Jack to the front door. "The kid doesn't speak much English, the mom's interview said; you might need an interpreter." She winked at him.

"Yeah, Spanish isn't my strong suit either, unless it's law-related, probably. I was a lawyer before I joined the FBI," he explained.

The elevator in the building had an "Out of Service" sign on it, to which Jack sighed and began to climb the first flight of stairs.

"So, you and Miss Thomas, huh?" Agent Moran looked at Jack with a gleam he could tell spelled trouble.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Let me guess, you're not dating because of the policy about dating within your team."

"That has been a major factor," he admitted.

She chuckled. "You know that policy doesn't actually exist, right?"

Jack stopped partway up the second flight of stairs and stared at her.

"I'm not kidding; they tell you at Quantico that it does, but it's really just a recommendation to keep the interpersonal conflicts down. Found that one out when Jeffrey asked me out a couple months ago."

She started up again, and Jack had to scramble to keep up with her. "You two—"

"Sort of—it's casual. But there's potential." She paused for a moment. "So don't use that as an excuse not to ask her out."

They continued up the third flight of stairs, and Jack was very glad the apartment they were checking out was on the fourth floor and not the fifth or sixth. "You think she'll say yes?" Jack felt like an idiot asking, but a part of him was still unsure what the answer might be.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you kidding me? If I weren't already dating Jeffrey, I would." She winked at him once again, then turned serious. "Here we are. Apartment 417. Let's hope Ramón Sanchez is home and opens the door."

They approached it slowly, and Agent Moran positioned herself off to the side as Jack stepped up to the door. He knocked twice and waited.

" _¿Quién es?_ " came the answer.

Jack and Agent Moran looked at each other, then quickly switched places. " _Tengo un paquete para el Sr. Sanchez_ ," she called back. "Package delivery," she mouthed to Jack, who nodded at the classic line.

A few seconds later, the door creaked open, and Agent Moran stuck her foot in the opening, holding up her FBI badge. " _Buscamos a Juan Sanchez y a su hija Esme_ ," she told the man who answered.

He stepped back and opened the door wide. " _Están dentro_ ," he said with a shrug.

"He says they're here," she whispered to Jack as they went through the narrow hallway to a small living room.

When the room came into their view, they saw Juan Sanchez sitting watching TV, with Esme on the floor next to him coloring in a picture in a coloring book. Jack braced himself for a confrontation, but was surprised to see a look of resignation come over his face, and he clicked off the TV with the remote in his lap before setting it aside.

"Juan Sanchez?" Jack asked him.

"Yeah, that's me."

"You're under arrest—" Jack began, but was interrupted.

"Please—could we do this outside, so my daughter doesn't have to see?" he asked.

Jack looked at Agent Moran, who shrugged.

"Fine by me," she said. "Just sit tight for a minute then." She turned to Jack. "I'll get Jeffrey to bring your Miss Thomas up at the same time." She laughed at his exasperated look at her when she said 'your Miss Thomas' and pulled her phone out, walking back to the hallway for a moment.

Juan stared at the floor, still seated. "I know I shouldn't have taken her, I just…" He trailed off for a second. "I heard her calling Victor her daddy. He was just replacing me, like I wasn't important, you know? But I love her." Esme looked up at him a little curiously, and Juan brushed her hair back and whispered something to her that had her nodding and bending her attention back to the coloring books.

Jack took a deep breath. "I'm not a father, but I know that no one can ever replace you in Esme's life. Victor may act like a father to her as well, but she's always going to need you too."

"What kid wants a dad she only sees once in a while, who's treated her mother the way I have?" Juan put his head in his hands.

Jack wished D was there, and fumbled for the words to say. "You can still be the kind of man she can be proud of calling her daddy. You go with us peacefully, get yourself into whatever program that will help you grow and change, and you'll be able to ask her forgiveness. Kids are pretty accepting," he added.

"Teresa will never let me see her again," Juan whispered, reaching out to brush his knuckles against one of Esme's cheeks.

"Maybe. Maybe not. It is Christmas…" Jack shrugged.

"Yeah…" Juan looked thoughtful.

The door opened, and Agent Ross and Sue entered. "Mr. Sanchez? We're ready for you now," Agent Ross said.

"I'll stay here with your Miss Thomas," Agent Moran told Jack with a grin. Jack wished he had the perfect comeback, but settled for a frustrated smile.

Juan bent over and whispered something to Esme, who gave him a hug. Jack thought he saw tears in the other man's eyes when he released the child and stood up to go with them out the door. "Thank you," Juan whispered to them.

"I'll see you at the car," Jack said to Sue, who was looking at them leave. She smiled and nodded.

After the frantic work to locate Juan and Esme, the trip downstairs and out to the car was anticlimactic. It was one of the easier arrests Jack had made; Juan put up no fuss and submitted to being cuffed calmly.

"Tricia and I can take him to our holding cell for now. We'll probably just drive him up to D.C. this afternoon ourselves; it beats working on reports," Agent Ross said with a grin.

Jack grinned back. "I know what you mean…"

* * *

"So Jack said you're deaf and read lips?" Agent Moran asked Sue.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Do you speak Spanish at all?"

Sue frowned. "Not really. I took a year of it in junior high, but… it didn't really stick."

"That's fine, I just wanted to know if I needed to interpret for you and Esme. I'm going to explain to her that we're going to take her back to her mother."

Sue nodded, watching the other woman bend down and speak in Spanish to the little girl. Esme's eyes lit up at the news and she began to jabber away at Agent Moran, who laughed and spoke some more.

Finally Agent Moran stood back up to face Sue. "She's excited to be going home. I told her you guys would stop and pick up a taco meal for her on the way, and that she might want to sleep in the car because it will be a long drive before she gets home."

"Wish us luck with that one," Sue said, laughing a little at the obvious animation in Esme's face.

"She'll make a good chaperone for you two," said Agent Moran.

Sue narrowed her eyes at the other woman, who merely smiled back.

"I'll tell you what I told Jack; there's no policy against dating within a unit, they just don't want messy breakups. So don't waste the opportunity." Agent Moran gave her a pointed look, then bent down to help Esme gather her things.

Sue opened her mouth, then closed it. Where could she even begin with that?

* * *

Jack closed his cell phone and flipped the map light on so Sue could see his lips. "That was Tara. She sent us the address to take Esme to when we get there. D says the mom is interested in asking that Juan get into an anger management program and parenting classes in place of jail time, and they're going to ask the AUSA for that. They're going to push for supervised visitation for a year or two."

"That's good; Esme will have a chance to grow up knowing her dad." Sue turned to look in the backseat and smiled at the picture. "She's curled up fast asleep with Levi as her pillow," she said. "It's been a long day for her."

Jack took a deep breath and mustered up his courage. "That means we have a chance to talk." He fought the urge to turn towards Sue; that angle would put his lips in the shadows where she would struggle to read them. "I've been a coward for too long now. So many times I wanted to say what I felt… and then I didn't. When I thought you were leaving, I almost said something. I think I might have if Myles hadn't interrupted."

"What are you trying to say?" Sue's voice was hesitant.

Jack wondered if she was half as nervous as he was. "You—you mean a lot to me. Personally." He struggled to think of the right words. "And I wanted to know if you felt the same way. And if you wanted to explore that."

He didn't realize he was holding his breath in anticipation until he heard a "yes". "Yes?"

"Yes," Sue said, half-choked up. "Yes!"

"If I weren't driving, I would kiss you right now," Jack told her.

He could hear the smile in her voice as she replied, "If you weren't driving, I would let you. But I'd rather live to enjoy the experience." She went on, "And as much as I enjoy being able to read your lips, it's safer for you to have the light off when you're driving. We can talk later."

He reached up to turn the light off, and glanced over at her face. Even in the shadows, it was still beautiful. This time he didn't find it nearly so difficult to reach over and take her hand. A grin stole over his face as he lifted their clasped hands to his mouth so he could kiss the back of Sue's. He felt a quiver go through her as he did so, and he squeezed her hand. The answering squeeze was quick and he found himself smiling the entire long drive back to D.C.

* * *

Sue watched out the window as the car made its way through the D.C. streets. Christmas lights hung from seemingly every pole and building, but her thoughts were on the man who still held her hand in his. For so long she hadn't dared hope… Even when she turned down the job offer in New York, she hadn't really hoped that Jack would make a move, but she'd figured what they had, what she had with everyone on the team, that was worth staying for. But now… now she was on cloud nine, and she hoped she wouldn't have to come down for a long while.

She groaned when she realized what she'd been forgetting, then felt Jack turn her hand over, palm up, and trace a question mark on it. "I just remembered—Lucy will have a field day with us."

It took her a couple seconds to figure out what Jack was doing next, as he turned her hand back over and positioned his underneath, but she soon recognized the fingerspelled letters. _I L-I-K-E S-O-U-N-D O-F U-S_ , he fingerspelled.

She smiled when he had finished. "Me too," she said.

The car slowed as Jack pulled up in front of the address Tara had given him. It was a small house that seemed to be overflowing with people, and cars lined the street in nearly every parking place, bar one, which seemed to have been left for them. He opened the door behind his, and Levi hopped out. Sue hooked his leash while Jack lifted Esme out of the car, setting the little girl on her feet. He reached in to grab her bag, then closed the door.

By this point, Esme was already racing for the house, and the front door had opened up as a crowd of people poured out to envelop her. Jack smiled, watching, and Sue slipped her hand into his. "It's nice to see a happy ending on Christmas Eve," she said.

"I agree." He tugged at her hand. "Come on, let's go wish them a Merry Christmas at least."

By the time they approached the front door, Teresa had thrown her arms around each of them. "Thank you, thank you for bringing my baby home," she said, tears in her eyes.

"You're welcome," Jack said.

Teresa picked Esme up and held her. " _Dígales 'gracias'; te trajeron a casa con nosotros._ "

Esme smiled at them. " _Gracias_ ," she said.

Sue smiled back. " _Feliz Navidad_ ," she wished Esme, who grinned and repeated the holiday greeting. Sue turned to see Jack looking at her curiously. "I'll admit I didn't learn that much, but I do remember how to say Merry Christmas," she said, signing the last two words.

"How do you sign that?" Teresa asked, setting Esme down. "And come in, it's too cold to stand outside very long."

Sue found herself showing more than a dozen men, women, and children how to sign Merry Christmas, with Jack helping demonstrate. "We really should be going," she told them after they finished. "It's getting late."

Victor whispered something to Teresa, who nodded. "We'd love it if you would stay and eat with us," Teresa said. "We always have _la cena de nochebuena_ with family and close friends—Christmas Eve dinner—and we count you as part of that group."

Sue looked at Jack hopefully.

"We'd love to," Jack said. "If you're sure it's not too late for us to join you."

"Not at all! We've been waiting for Esme to be able to join us. As long as you don't mind spicy food—Teresa's tamales have hot peppers in them." Victor grinned at Jack.

"Ah, I'm feeling adventurous today," Jack said, with an extra smile to Sue.

As they sat down at the table, Sue saw Jack suddenly wince. "What is it?" she whispered to him.

"I can't believe I forgot—I never got you a present," Jack said quietly. "I never found anything I thought you would want, so I was going to try again today…"

"It's OK," Sue said. "I already have the best present you could give me." She reached for his hand and squeezed it, the action gradually becoming familiar and natural to her. "Merry Christmas, Jack."

"Merry Christmas."

**Author's Note:**

> English translation of Spanish phrases/sentences used:  
>  _mi corazón_ = my heart (a term of endearment)  
>  _Papi_ = Daddy  
>  _¿Quién es?_ = Who is it?  
>  _Tengo un paquete para el Sr. Sanchez_ = I have a package for Mr. Sanchez  
>  _Buscamos a Juan Sanchez y a su hija Esme_ = We're looking for Juan Sanchez and his daughter Esme  
>  _Están dentro_ = They're inside  
>  _Dígales 'gracias'; te trajeron a casa con nosotros._ = Tell them 'thank you'; they brought you home to us.  
>  _Gracias_ = Thank you  
>  _Feliz Navidad_ = Merry Christmas  
>  _la cena de nochebuena_ = Christmas Eve dinner
> 
> I think I got all the translations OK, but if I mistranslated one of them, please let me know!


End file.
